Middle East Studies Association

Mission Statement

The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) is a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encourages public understanding of the region and its peoples through programs, publications and services that enhance education, further intellectual exchange, recognize professional distinction, and defend academic freedom in accordance with its status as a 501(c)(3) scientific, educational, literary, and charitable organization.

Annual Meeting

November 14-17, 2019
Sheraton New Orleans
new orleans, louisiana

#MESA2019

Join us in November for MESA’s 53rd annual meeting in The Big Easy. Attendees will enjoy three days of academic panels, a bustling book bazaar, and a film festival screening the latest in documentary films on the Middle East.

Academic Freedom

The Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) seeks to foster the free exchange of knowledge as a human right and to inhibit infringements on that right by government restrictions on scholars. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provide the principal standards by which human rights violations are identified today. Those rights include the right to education and work, freedom of movement and residence, and freedom of association and assembly.

Become a Member

Be a part of a community of scholars who are passionate about the pursuit of academic knowledge on the MENA region. Join others in helping MESA defend academic freedom and civil and human rights. Share your research at the annual meeting and submit articles for MESA’s journals. Participate on a MESA committee to help recognize outstanding scholarship or work to advance the field. Join MESA today and be a part of something great!

Member Announcements

Vote for the 2019 Nominating Committee

MESA Board Statements issued at MESA 2018 in San Antonio

MESA Board Raises Concern about Deteriorating Security Conditions for Researchers in UAESan Antonio, TX—November 15, 2018 Over the course of the past months, it has become unmistakably clear that the environment for the conduct of research in several countries of the MENA has changed, ...READ STATEMENT

MESA Board Affirms Commitment to Fight Antisemitism as Form of RacismSan Antonio, TX—November 15, 2018 Over the last two years MESA proudly partnered with HIAS, the International Refugee Assistant Project, and individual plaintiffs to challenge President Trump’s Muslim Ban. Represented by ACLU, our collective case went to the Supreme Court. We did not stop the ban; we succeeded at tempering it in our collective stance against all forms of racism and xenophobia. READ STATEMENT

CAF’s Resource Guide on Canary Mission

MESA’s Committee on Academic Freedom has issued a resource guide for college and university leaders on actions they can take to counteract a secretive, political organization called Canary Mission that uses its website to engage in defamatory attacks against college students and faculty who engage in advocacy for Palestinian rights and academic inquiry about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Follow MESA’s Work on the Muslim Travel Ban

When President Trump issued Executive Order 13769 (the first Muslim travel ban) on January 7, 2017, MESA and the ACLU began discussing ways in which MESA could be useful in a lawsuit against the ban. MESA ultimately joined as a plaintiff in IRAP v. Trump. Now in its third iteration, the Muslim travel ban continues to be challenged in court. A timeline of MESA's involvement with the lawsuit:

The Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script” (SCRIPTS) is looking for 4 postdoctoral research fellows for the duration of 10 months in Berlin! The cluster focuses on contemporary controversies about the liberal order from a historical, global, and comparative perspective. Deadline: March 30, 2019

Letter to President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and Members of the Senate and House of Representatives expressing opposition to the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) of 2018, as it results in the denial of the right to education to Palestinian students from the West Bank and Gaza Strip in a MEPI program. CAF calls on Congress and the President to cancel ATCA.

University of Virginia

Under the auspices of the University of Virginia, I am teaching a four-credit academic internship program in Marrakech this summer (May 27th to July 19th) called, Participatory Development in Practice. Application deadline: March 1st.

Temple University

The Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Studies at Temple University invites applications for a one-year non-renewable opening for an Arabic language instructor for the academic year 2019-2020. Deadline: April 1, 2019

Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University, School of Global Studies and Partnerships, invites applications for a Tenure Track position as Assistant Professor and Farzaneh Chair of Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies to begin August 2019. Deadline for applications: February 28, 2019.

The College of William and Mary

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the College of William and Mary invites applications for a one-year, non-tenure track Visiting Assistant Professor position that will begin August 10, 2019. Review date: March 15, 2019

American Islamic College

AIC’s Arabic Language Institute is offering two levels of intensive Arabic this summer at the Introductory and Intermediate levels, both with 140 contact hours which satisfies FLAS funding requirements. Application Deadline: May 31, 2019

University of Maryland

The Arabic Program in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Maryland, College Park invites applications for a full-time appointment as Assistant Professor (non-tenure-track) for the 2019-20 academic year, with possibility of extension. Application deadline: March 6, 2019

Swansea University

A one-day brainstorming meeting regarding Death and Shiite Muslim Migrants which will be held from July 8-13, 2019 (the precise day will be announced later) in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Swansea University, in the United Kingdom.

Arab-German Young Academy and Orient Institut Beirut (OIB)

Arab-German Young Academy and Orient Institut Beirut (OIB) announce a conference in Beirut on Destruction/Re-Construction: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Cultural Heritage in Conflict. Paper abstracts due by March 15, 2019.

Stay Connected

MESA offers several ways to stay connected, including a young-people-approved presence on Facebook and Twitter, oldie but goodie listservs, and trusty email notifications. To find out more, please follow the link below.